Looks Like A New Game Mode For Birth By Sleep

I was jealous when I heard Stephen Totilo played Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep at the Tokyo Game Show. But even if he saw it first, it looks like he didn't see everything.

Apparently there's a board game-type of mode in Birth By Sleep that breaks up the hack 'n' slash monotony many non-KH fans complain about. The first I've heard of it appears in this magazine scan dug up by fans. According the amatuer translation, the board game mode is called Command Mode and playing the mode rewards you with power ups for your Command attacks in regular gameplay. I can't tell if it's optional like a lot of Final Fantasy grind-reducing mechanisms, or mandatory like the $#&%ing Gummi Ships.

The fan translation goes on to suggest that Board Points control movement on the Command Board and you get them by rolling dice. Landing on event spaces triggers chance cards and special characters will somehow help you during the board game by jacking Board Points from your opponent.

Hm. Didn't Devil May Cry 4 have something like this...?

Oh, also, there's a new character that appears in the scanned page. His name is something like "Master Eraqus" in English and the scuttlebutt is that this is supposed to be "Square" backwards. You know, like Disney's "Yen Sid" character.

Triple AAA games nailing the brief. Indie games surprising people out of nowhere, and expansions and patches that completely turn a game around. It's been a good year for games - now it's time for you to vote for your favourite.